Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Half-Billion Eggs Recalled; Roger Clemens Indicted Still Denying Steroid Use; Wyclef: "I Cannot Surrender Now"; Dean: Don't Count Dems Out; Technology Versus Your Kids; Bringing Tourists Back to NOLA
Aired August 23, 2010 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning on this Monday, the 23rd of August. Thanks so much for joining us. I'm John Roberts.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Carol Costello, in for Kiran.
A lot to talk about this morning, so let's get right to it.
One thousand people sick, more than half a billion eggs now possibly contaminated with salmonella. The whole thing traced back to two farms owned by a company with a history of violations. The latest on the recall, the outbreak and what you should do.
ROBERTS: He told Roger Clemens that he had better not tell a lie. So, today, former Congressman Tom Davis talking to us about the Rockets case and the chances that he might go to prison.
COSTELLO: And a first family frenzy in Martha's Vineyard, while some are ecstatic about the president's week-long vacation there, one supporter got a surprising negative reaction to what she calls a patriotic sign, including several nasty online messages.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUSAN GOLDSTEIN, MANSION HOUSE OWNER: It's hard not to read it and go, eww, how did this filth get into my computer screen on my desk?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Some question why the Obamas went to the elite holiday spot in Massachusetts instead on off the Gulf Coast after the president encouraged Americans to help bolster tourism there.
ROBERTS: And, of course, the amFIX blog is up and running this morning. Join the live conversation going on right now. Just go to CNN.com/amFIX.
COSTELLO: Crack 'em or can 'em? Many Americans are asking that question before breakfast this morning. More than half a billion eggs have now been recalled over salmonella fears. One thousand people have gotten sick. That's so far. ROBERTS: The search for the egg zero, the beginning of this outbreak, has led investigators two to farms in Iowa owned by the same family that doesn't exactly have the cleanest record -- as the head of the Food and Drug Administration told us just a short time ago.
Our Casey Wian is live for us in Galt, Iowa, this morning.
And, Casey, when you look at it, half a billion eggs -- the size of this recall is just stunning.
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John and Carol, it really is stunning. And this could be one of -- you are looking for ground zero or egg zero, behind me is one of the places that investigators are looking at. It is the chicken feed mixing facility of right county egg. These trucks come into this facility with all kinds of ingredients, oyster shells, bone meal -- all kinds of things. And they are mixed together in those giant silos there and then fed to the chickens.
It's just one of the potential sources of salmonella contamination at a company that was largely unknown until now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WIAN (voice-over): This modest building in Iowa farm country is at the center of one of the largest food safety scares in recent history. Wright County Egg is based here. We met the chief operation officer inside but he declined to speak with us about the company, its related businesses, and their long history of fines for health and safety violations. They include animal cruelty, sexual harassment of workers, even rape, and the hiring of illegal immigrants.
This undercover video obtained last year by the group Mercy for Animals shows how chickens were treated at the company's farm in Maine. The owner agreed to pay more than $130,000 in fines.
We met several local residents who are not happy with Wright County Egg's expanding presence.
RON ZIN, WRIGHT COUNTY RESIDENT: People move away because who wants to live by this mega site (ph).
DAN BRIDGES, WRIGHT COUNTY RESIDENT: We've got more migrant workers than we have our own workers. The wages are low.
WIAN: In a statement, the company said, "When issues have been raised about our farms, our management team has addressed them swiftly and effectively." It also said the company is cooperating with the FDA investigation into what caused the outbreak of salmonella and led to the recall of more than half a billion eggs.
About 1,000 people have become ill this summer, including the Danielson family in Minnesota.
TODD DANIELSON, TAINTED EGG VICTIM: Everybody had diarrhea. That was the first thing and then headaches and then throwing up, and then it was body aches. We couldn't even move. I mean, it was like in your joints. It hurts so bad. I mean, it was worse than any flu I've had.
WIAN: Already, lawsuits are being filed in several states by people who say they became sick eating eggs from Wright County Egg.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WIAN: The FDA says it is still searching for the original source of this nationwide salmonella contamination. The agency also says that since May of this year, there has been a four-fold increase in the number of salmonella cases across the country -- John, Carol.
COSTELLO: That makes you feel good, doesn't it? Unbelievable. Casey Wian, reporting live for us from Iowa.
To find out which egg brands have been recalled and whether the (INAUDIBLE) on your refrigerator is safe, go to CNN.com/amFIX for a link to the FDA's Web site and a list of the affected brands. If your eggs are on that list, throw them out or take them back to the store for a refund.
ROBERTS: Some breaking news to tell you about right now. We've got pictures from Manila in the Philippines of a bus. And we're just trying to figure out what has gone on this morning.
We know that earlier today, a fellow by the name of Rolando Mendoza, who is a police officer who is fired on charges of extortion, took over that bus with 25 tourists onboard. It's a tour bus. He's kind of flagged it down. He had a rifle at his side. He was wearing his uniform, said that he wanted a ride somewhere. And then he got onboard the bus, he said, "I'm taking it over and I'm not going to release the bus or the hostages until I get my job back."
Well, he did released 10 of the hostages. Apparently, the bus driver was among them. He is now talking to police. But there were 15 other people were onboard that bus. He had -- Mendoza had warned of taking drastic steps if the police came anywhere near the bus.
Well, a little while ago, they charged the bus. There were some shots that were fired through the front window. The Manila SWAT squad, if that's what it is out there, has been trying to break into the bus with a sledgehammer, trying to break out the window, they haven't had much success. And at one point, the sledgehammer slimmed slipped out of the officer's hands and actually went inside the bus.
So, they've been sitting around since then. We don't know what's going on. But there are fears that the worst may have happened -- which is why their attempts to get onboard the bus have been put on hold.
So, we'll keep watching this and give you an update. But it seems to be a lesson in how not to storm a bus there if you are trying to save the hostages.
COSTELLO: It was unbelievable. They took the sledgehammers and just broke out top windows. Of course, if they fear that the other passengers are dead inside and only the gunman is alive, maybe that's why they did that.
ROBERTS: Yes. But they looked like they had no real plan to get inside. They were using an ax to try to get that front door open, couldn't even get the door of the bus open. So --
COSTELLO: Yes, and then they took cover suddenly.
ROBERTS: Yes. We'll keep watching it for you this morning.
COSTELLO: Yes.
Also developing this morning, officials in Chile say it could take months to rescue 33 miners trapped underground. They were found alive after 17 days of searching. They then managed to tie a handwritten note to a probe that was lowered underground confirming they are all alive and inside a shelter.
ROBERTS: Yes. It may be months before they get them out. Can you imagine having to live through that?
COSTELLO: Yes.
ROBERTS: It's all eyes on Iran this morning -- the Islamic republic unveiling what it calls, quote, "the ambassador of death." It's a new long-range drone that can reportedly move at high speeds and bomb targets more than 600 miles away. Tehran is also starting to fuel up its Bushehr nuclear power plant, something that Israel is calling, quote, "totally unacceptable."
COSTELLO: Plus, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says he's a target of a smear campaign. Swedish authorities issued a warrant for his arrest, accusing him of rape but then revoked just hours later.
Speaking with Al Jazeera, Assange said he has his suspicions of who's behind it, but without direct evidence, he couldn't make any allegations. Assange also said his site will publish more Afghan war documents within the next two to four weeks.
ROBERTS: Well, the transportation security administration is creating a stir for testing a new more intense pat-down at security checkpoints. Screeners at both Boston Logan Airport and McCarran International in Las Vegas are using a palms forward search to pat- down passengers. That's instead of using the back of the hand. The ACLU asks if the more invasive search really is going to be any more effective.
COSTELLO: So, you can go in the naked x-ray machine and you can get patted down.
Let's go to the weather now and Rob Marciano.
Hi.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey. Well, listen, if you can -- you might as well get a massage out of the deal, you know? Maybe get a little elbow in there, the knot to the neck.
COSTELLO: Yes, that might be a good idea.
MARCIANO: If you are traveling today after the pat-down, you may get a little bit of delays from New York to Boston, some heavy rain in this area. You had the heavy rain yesterday, and there are some areas that are flooding. Just some small streams and some clogged drainage in some of the urban areas.
So, a slow commute for sure from New York up through Boston, and that will be the call for the next couple of hours. Tomorrow will be somewhat dryer, but this is a very slow-moving system and it will continue to dump copious amounts of moisture across the northeast.
Meanwhile, drying out on the backside of this thing, hazy and humid across the South and we are starting to transition into somewhat cooler air with a high temperature of only 73 in New York. But that's rain cool at 73.
One other thing of note is what's going on out there in the Atlantic. This is tropical storm Danielle -- 60-mile-an-hour winds, expected to become a hurricane. You see, it's looking fairly organized at the moment. It is way out there in the Atlantic. To even get close to the U.S., it would take at least a week.
We'll talk about the forecast track a little bit later in the program, but there are hints that it may stay out to sea. And we certainly hope that would be the case.
John and Carol, back to you.
COSTELLO: We hope so. Thank you, Rob.
ROBERTS: That would be a good thing. Thanks, Rob.
COSTELLO: Yes.
ROBERTS: Well, Roger Clemens indicted on charges of lying to Congress. But does Congress really even have the jurisdiction to indict him on charges of perjury? And, you know, why did Clemens go before that committee in the first place?
COSTELLO: Because he's innocent, John.
ROBERTS: We'll talk to the man who call for Clemens to be investigated in the first place.
And there's also another strange twist. One of his original defenders is now in charge of the prosecution. How does that happen?
Ten and a half minutes after the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
ROBERTS: Thirteen minutes after the hour.
Roger Clemens says he's looking forward to fighting charges that he lied to Congress when he said he didn't use steroids. Baseball's seven-time Cy Young Award winner was indicted last week and speaking out for the first time since then, Clemens told a Boston radio station he has a great legal team and will get to have our say.
Former Congressman Tom Davis was one of the men who called for Clemens to be investigated in the first place. He joins us from Washington this morning.
Congressman, great to see you this morning. What's your reaction to the fact that Clemens was indicted?
TOM DAVIS, FORMER CONGRESSMAN: Well, you know, it's not up to Congress to indict. When we see anomalies and misstatements, we refer it to the Justice Department and then they decide if there's enough evidence to go ahead with an indictment.
But the one thing we can't comment (ph) is lying to Congress. And obviously, when you get McNamee and Clemens saying completely opposite things, somebody wasn't telling the truth. We turn it to Justice. I think they investigated this, found physical evidence, (INAUDIBLE) of this. And this is what they come up with.
Now, Roger Clemens will get a day in court. It's a different set of rules there in terms of what's evidence being able to cross- examine. And we'll see what happens.
ROBERTS: You were the ranking member on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. In your opening statement, you said it's clear that someone is not telling the truth here. Let's replay the statement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVIS: We have before us two very different stories. They are many ways incompatible. Someone is lying in spectacular fashion about the ultimate question.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: You had the opportunity prior to the hearing to meet with Roger Clemens behind closed doors. What did he say to you? What did you say to him in that meeting?
DAVIS: Well, we tried to meet with witnesses before they testified. We made it clear, number one, he did not have to testify. He was not under subpoena. He could walk away.
Now, he would then be included in the Mitchell report which said he had used steroids. That would have been part of our final report as well. He wanted an opportunity to rebut that. And I said, whatever you do, don't lie. That just makes it worse.
And he said, you know -- I think he understood that. And I think he was pretty forceful in his denials that he used steroids or any other substance.
ROBERTS: So if you gave him the out to say, look, you are not under subpoena here, you really don't need to do this, we can take a deposition from you. Why do you think he went before the cameras and why do you think he went before Congress?
DAVIS: You know he got caught up with dozens of members in this Mitchell report and investigated players who had used steroids. By the way, this investigation was done without any cooperation from the players at all. It was all done from trainers and former players. Only one player from my knowledge was able to refute the evidence that Senator Mitchell had before it was released. Senator Mitchell gave everybody that opportunity. Clemens gets named with 70 others and immediately goes and denies it and wants to tell the world. And as we held our hearings on the Mitchell report, we gave him the opportunity to refute that.
ROBERTS: OK in fact, let's play some of Clemens' statement because as you say, he was very definite in his denials. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROGER CLEMENS, BASEBALL PLAYER: No matter what we discuss today, I'm never going to have my name restored, but I've got to try to set the record straight. Let me be clear I have never taken steroids or HGH.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Congressman, was there ever any doubt in your mind that he was not telling the truth?
DAVIS: Well, I wanted to believe him. I was a big Clemens' fan. And you got to remember, he not had a spectacular career and he did a lot for his community. But when you took a look at the evidence before the committee, and that's McNamee's testimony and corroborating evidence some of the depositions that we took, the strong weight of evidence was against Clemens at that point. It was at that point that Henry and I, we had an institutional duty to refer the justice department and let them investigate this further. We didn't say go after him criminally, but you know, we had a duty for somebody to carry this on.
ROBERTS: Right, you talk about the corroborating testimony in addition to Brian McNamee who was the trainer who claims he injected Clemens repeatedly with growth steroids and human growth hormone. One of the people who was in the deposition that gave corroborating evidence was Andy Pettitte of the New York Yankees he says that Clemens admitted to him using the drugs. You were in the deposition, did Pettitte go a long way to convincing you that Clemens was dirty here?
DAVIS: well I tell you what, it was a very credible witness. I think Andy Pettitte would have rather been anywhere else on earth than answering questions before a Congressional committee about his friend, Roger Clemens. We had no reason that we could tell that he would want to turn on Clemens.
ROBERTS: Yes.
DAVIS: But this is someone who takes his faith seriously and takes his oath seriously. And I think he just wanted to tell the truth. He was very credible witness. The one thing Clemens didn't have was Pettitte on the stand, opposite of him on the hearings. That would have been to his detriment.
ROBERTS: Now the circle is very small there in Washington as evidenced by the fact that Landny Brewer, an attorney in D.C., was representing Clemens at the hearing and said Brian McNamee was fabricating evidence. Now it turns out through happen in the stands Brewer is headed up the criminal division of the Department of Justice and is the supervisor of the U.S. attorney who is overseeing this case. I mean, you can't make this stuff up, congressman.
DAVIS: You can't make it up. I'm sure -- Laney Brewer is a very honorable person. I'm sure he stepped out to give this thing and let others to make the decision, but this is going to be you, from a media standpoint --
ROBERTS: There's another point made from legal analysts that Congress may, in fact, not have the jurisdiction to seek charges of perjury against somebody because this was not a hearing that really had anything to do with congress's legislative player power. You just called these players in to allow them the chance to refute the allegations of the Mitchell report. What do you say that you may not have the jurisdiction. And I know the Department of Justice is the one pursuing the perjury charges, but there may not be a charge of perjury here because this was not really Congress involved in its legislative powers as handed to it by the constitution.
DAVIS: That's a good question. It could be fairly agnostic. That's up for the Justice Department to determine, but let me just lay the appropriate predicate here. We held -- I held the original hearings with Congressman Waxton. I was chairman of the committee at that point on steroids. We got baseball to change their policy. We were instrumental in getting the Mitchell report underway with baseball. The issues report, we hold hearings on this report and oversight that we were bound to do by law. And this was a part of those hearings.
ROBERTS: OK.
DAVIS: Because you had people attacking the Mitchell report. So it was under that. We do have the power to legislate, as you know on performance enhancing drugs, but we also have strong oversight power. That's what our committee does.
ROBERTS: Well interesting.
DAVIS: And we've been - baseball's policy.
ROBERTS: Well as you said, a lot of people are going to be watching this one. DAVIS: Yes.
ROBERTS: No doubt about that. Former Congressman Tom Davis. Great to talk to you this morning, thanks for coming in.
DAVIS: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Carol.
COSTELLO: President Obama's Martha's vineyard vacation fabulous family fun time or public relations bust? Dan Lothian will join us live from the vineyard next. It is 20 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Hip hop artist Wyclef Jean says he isn't giving up on running for president in Haiti. Haiti's elections for it disqualified him as a candidate last week. Officials didn't give a reason, but Jean said they ruled that he's not a resident of Haiti. Haiti's constitution requires candidates to live in the country five consecutive years before they can run for president.
ROBERTS: He does have a house there, so that's why he's claiming residency.
Former agriculture department employee Shirley Sherrod will meet with her old boss tomorrow. The agricultural department says she and secretary Vilsack will discuss a new job offer. It's the first face- to face meeting between the two since Sherrod was forced to resign last month. You'll remember the race-related scandal that started after conservative activist Andrew Brightbart uploaded misleading video of a speech Sherrod gave.
COSTELLO: And former Democratic national committee chairman Howard Dean says the White House and President Obama's advisors need to get out of Washington. He insists the President's inner circle is suffering from inside the belt way mentality. He told our Candy Crowley when it comes to the midterm elections this fall, don't count Democrats out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD DEAN, FMR. DNC CHAIRMAN: The key number is whether people still like the president or not. And I think they do. And I think that we are going to be in much better shape than most the Washington pundits think we are in the Democratic side. Because the president is out there fighting in this election for better or for worse depends on how hard the president fights between now and election day. And he shows every sign that he's really serious about this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Dean went on to say I bet money on the senate for sure but admitted keeping the House will be tough.
ROBERTS: Whatever happen to the old belief that all politics is local.
COSTELLO: Politics don't make much sense these days, John. I don't think any of the old rules apply.
ROBERTS: That's true. Are the teens and tweens texting too much? Sending text messages at all the hours of the night, texting more than they talk? Having virtual friends instead of real ones. We are asking the question this morning, does it rise to the level of an addiction? Deb Feyerick with an "A.M. Original," coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty seven and half minutes after the hour. "Top Stories" just a few minutes away, but first an "A.M. Original." Something that you will see only on AMERICAN MORNING. And this is something that gives parents fits because for most teens the cell phone isn't just a gadget in their pocket. It is a lifeline, ways of life, for Pete sakes.
COSTELLO: It certainly is. Emails and texting and tweets and status updates are these teenagers actually addicted? Our Deb Feyerick has been asking that question. She's here with some answers in our series "Texting Too Much."
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sometimes I wonder whether we, in fact, are also addicted. We you think about how many you guys get in any given day. But for a lot of teenagers, the craving to text is a behavioral addiction. The same way gambling is a behavioral addiction. Getting and receiving texts may flood the brain with dopamine, a mood enhancer connected to pleasure and reward.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARAH MARSHALL, TEXTING TEEN: On your mark get set go.
FEYERICK (voice-over): How fast can your average 15-year-old text a single line? Let's just say faster than someone not in high school.
MARSHALL: Mine is not even English.
FEYERICK (voice-over): For 10th grader Sara Matzkin on the right, Sarah Marshall on the middle, and April Polubiec, texting maybe as important as talking.
FEYERICK (on camera): How many texts do you send and receive every day?
SARA MATZKIN, TEXTING TEEN: Probably around 200.
MARSHALL: Definitely a couple hundred.
APRIL POLUBIEC, TEXTING TEEN: It varies.
FEYERICK (voice-over): It varies show to the tune of over 3,000 texts a month for the average teenager. The question now, are teens texting too much?
MARSHALL: It is right by my bed when I go to sleep, and it is right by my bed when I wake up. It is like the first thing I go through.
FEYERICK: 80 percent of all kids own a cell phone, and the rate of texting has skyrocketed 600 percent in three years.
FEYERICK (on camera): Why is it so important to know when somebody is trying to reach you?
POLUBIEC: You feel like you are missing something. If someone like texted me, and I missed that, I'm like, oh, I missed out on the moment.
FEYERICK: Do you sometimes feel your mood is changing depending on how often you are receiving the texts? Or the speed?
MATZKIN: Yes.
FEYERICK: Like what? Give me some examples.
MATZKIN: Well, I mean like, if someone responds right away, and you are like, yay, they responded. But if they respond like two to three hours later, you are like, what's going on?
FEYERICK (voice-over): Sound addictive? Well, could be. Doctors say texting and the instant gratification of getting a text back floods the brain's pleasure center with the mood-enhancing dopamine.
DR. MICHAEL SEYFFERT, CHILD NEUROLOGIST: Neural imaging studies have shown that those kids who are texting have that area of the brain light up the same as an addict using heroin. And they will actually describe when I don't have it, I feel bad. I feel anxious, or sad.
FEYERICK (on camera): So, it's like a new nicotine?
SEYFFERT: That's a good description, yes. And for many, it may well be.
FEYERICK, (voice-over): Brain doctor Michael Seyffert treats teens with sleeping disorders at this New Jersey sleep clinic and has discovered that one out of five are interrupting their sleep to text, triggering problems.
SEYFFERT: With a lack of sleep, they are having a problem performing. They are going from honorable students to barely passing.
FEYERICK: That's the worst case. These teens, on the other hand, get good grades and take part in after school activities, though texting does get them in trouble.
FEYERICK (on camera): When was the last time you had your phones taken away?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yesterday.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today.
FEYERICK: Today. So within the last 24 hours you each had your phones taken away from you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
FEYERICK: Their school, like many, struggling to keep them away from students.
TRACEY BAILEY, ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN EDUCATORS: Most administrators will tell you that if it is not their single greatest problem in terms of discipline and school management, it is at least in the top three.
FEYERICK: Despite the potential downsides, parents say texting has become a necessary evil.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They don't answer the phone. It is the only way to get a hold of them. They will answer a text.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They don't do e-mail at all. Forget about e-mail. It is gone. It is over.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had to get text messaging in order to communicate with my daughter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sometimes they only communicate that way.
FEYERICK: And while the behavior can be addictive, teens like Sarah Marshall say they are confident they can quit cold turkey.
SARAH MARSHALL, TEXTING TEEN: Maybe I would have withdrawal symptoms, like getting anxious and wondering what's going on, but once I realize nothing bad is happening, I would be fine without my phone.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: And of course, one danger is tone, the tone of texting. It is very easy for people to misinterpret how someone is saying something. Irony doesn't translate well in a virtual world, so feelings get hurt, jokes may be taken personally.
Texting is a way to be intimate without real intimacy, experts say. It's why friendships can form electronically by a text but not necessarily face to face. That is one of the dangers. There are many of them, but that's -- that creates the social dynamic, especially within high schools.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: So if I text you to say, "OMG," and you don't get back to me for two hours, is that a dis?
FEYERICK: Totally.
ROBERTS: Do kids use the word "like" when they're texting? FEYERICK: No, they don't.
ROBERTS: Why do they use it so much when they talk?
FEYERICK: There was a study done that children are more concise in their papers, but they are also more fractured as well. It is kind of an interesting balance there.
ROBERTS: My son uses the word "like" every third word. I want to go in with a scalpel and cut it out of his vocabulary.
FEYERICK: It's better than "um." Look at the bright side.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is time to move on now.
With all the technology we have the threat of cyber bullying and sexting. So how can you protect your kids? We want to go on with this topic. So we have advice coming up in just a few minutes from former education secretary and talk show host Bill Bennett.
ROBERTS: It is like half past the hour, so it's time for this morning's top stories.
More than half a billion eggs are part of a nationwide recall and a salmonella scare. The FDA says more than 1,000 people have gotten sick now. The outbreak is being traced back to two farms in Iowa this morning, but officials still don't know the exact source.
COSTELLO: And breaking news this morning. We are watching a ten-hour hostage drama unfold on a bus full of passengers in the Philippines right now. This is -- police say ten people have gone free. There were 25 passengers onboard initially, but 15 are still being held.
And it may have taken a horrible turn for the worst in the past hour. There were reports of gunfire and we saw SWAT teams smashing the windows with sledgehammers and then trying to bore it from the back, but then they quickly turned around and took cover.
Ambulances are now arriving on the scene, but there hasn't been any movement inside that bus for some time. Police say an ex-cop is the hostage taker and is possibly armed with an M-16.
ROBERTS: The religious leader of that controversial Islamic center and mosque just a stone's throw away from ground zero says New York City should move forward with the project. A Bahrainian newspaper yesterday said the center will be built with an "Islamic approach that allows for harmony and understanding among all religions and other ideas."
COSTELLO: Martha's Vineyard, the posh east coast summer destination, has become a hotspot thanks to the first family's vacation there. And as usual with these sorts of trips, the whole island is a buzz.
ROBERTS: Not everyone, though, is excited to host the president. Our Dan Lothian has been tracking the president and his family and he joins live from Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts, this morning, where Dan, I would ordinarily love to be joining you, but the weather doesn't look so nice today.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. As you see, I'm barely standing up here. The wind is blowing and it has been quite a bit of this wet stuff coming down for the last 24 hours or so.
You know, I can tell you one thing we have noticed that's different this time around than last summer is the fact that you don't see as many welcome signs for the first family out on storefronts or front yards. But one local told me that's because they have been here already, so people are getting used to this.
Nonetheless, Martha's Vineyard can't escape the polarized country. The warm embrace the president is getting from some is coming under fire from others.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN: When President Obama and the first daughters made a surprise visit to a Vineyard Haven bookshop, the public swarmed to catch a glimpse. And a lucky few like Brandon Murphy who happened to be inside got a handshake and autograph.
BRANDON MURPHY, SHOOK HANDS WITH BARACK OBAMA: I was snaking most of the time. It was really cool. I was totally nervous, though.
LOTHIAN: The rare public appearance caused a stir and locked up traffic on the island's narrow streets.
NANCY BERMUDA, MARTHA'S VINEYARD RESIDENT: I'm glad he's here, it is good for business. I don't like being stuck in traffic.
LOTHIAN: But her minor displeasure paled in comparison to the backlash caused by this sign at a local hotel that thanks the president for his accomplishments.
SUSAN GOLDSTEIN, MANSION HOUSE OWNER: I was totally shocked. For that kind of hatred to come in on your computer screen --
LOTHIAN: Susan Goldstein, who owns the mansion house on Vineyard Haven, says ugly e-mails and blog posting started after her picture of her patriotic sign was posted online.
GOLDSTEIN: The comment that was sort of anti-Semitic, anti- black, anti-elitist, anti-everything, it is hard not to read and go, how did this filth get into my computer screen on my desk?
LOTHIAN: One posting read, quote, "For a black man he sure does crave the approval of the richest and the whitest of the rich." One town over at an ice cream shop, most people seem to appreciate this sign welcoming the president, but not everyone.
JENNIFER COMBRA, OWNER, CAROUSEL ICE CREAM FACTORY: One of our workers, Molly, was saying that she was getting different, dirty looks, almost, towards the sign.
LOTHIAN: So the sign was moved.
Politics aside, business owners say the presidential vacation has one big upside.
ALEX MCCLUSKEY, OWNER, THE LOCKER ROOM: It is good for the island, it is good for the economy, at least for down here.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN: So the president has spent much of his time so far playing a lot of golf away from the cameras venturing out in the public once to visit the book shop. Today we don't know what's on the schedule, but I can imagine that weather will be a major factor.
ROBERTS: It's a good day to stay inside and read a book.
LOTHIAN: That's right. Some of the books he bought at the bookstore.
COSTELLO: Exactly. Dan Lothian, thanks.
Betty white is having one awesome year. And it just got better. She's won an Emmy. Who else scored? We'll have that for you next. It is 38 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Well, she really is the golden girl of Hollywood. Betty White won her sixth Emmy Saturday night for her recent stint hosting "Saturday Night Live." But at 88 years old she's still so busy she didn't have time to show up to accept the award in person.
But she did take a moment to celebrate the win. She won the trophy at the Creative Arts Emmy Ceremony in Los Angeles held before the main Emmy ceremony, which is this coming Sunday.
COSTELLO: Congratulations to Betty. Other big winners, Neil Patrick Harris for his appearance on "Glee" and for hosting the Tonys, John Lithgow took home a trophy for a guest spot on "Dexter," and Old Spice took home best commercial.
But the night's biggest winner was HBO, the premium cable network, which is owned by CNN's parent company Time Warner took home 17 trophies, mostly on the success of the World War II miniseries "The Pacific."
ROBERTS: If you didn't like yesterday's weather, you're going to hate today's. Rob Marciano has got the weather update for us across the country and what's brewing out in the Atlantic as well. Stay with us, 42 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: What is that green thing on the White House? ROBERTS: It is a cherry picker. They are cleaning the dental molding.
COSTELLO: Thanks. I was wondering what that was. Now you know, too. Thank you, John. We are looking at Washington, D.C., where it is mostly cloudy and 77 degrees and headed for a high of 81.
(WEATHER BREAK)
COSTELLO: So you think your teenager texts too much? Is your teenager texting too much? Would you like to control it, at least the messages they are sending, the harmful messages? There's a way. We'll tell you about it next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COSTELLO: Well, we've been talking about it all morning. Your kids are addicted to their cell phones and computers all day long, tweets and status updates and hundreds and hundreds of text messages.
So as your kids head back to school this fall, how do you keep them safe from the dangers of sexting and cyber bullying? For more, let's bring in former Education Secretary Bill Bennett, he's also an advisor and an investor in Mouse Mail, a product to help parents stop cyber-bullying and sexting, I should say. Good morning, Bill.
BILL BENNETT, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Hi, Carol.
COSTELLO: So the average teenager texts and sends 3,000 texts a month -- 3,000 a month. That's just crazy.
BENNETT: Yes, well, as your lead-in showed though, they can do that in about six minutes a day. I mean, they're -- they are quick at it. The number and quantity is a little bit troubling. They are in a digital world whether they really live full-time in that digital world can be a cause of concern for parents.
Most of the stuff they send is innocent. I think if you did a survey of the stuff, 90, 95 percent of the stuff would be innocent, but you hit on other issues: cyber bullying, sexting, sextortion now. And as we go back to school we know it's a major problem for the schools.
COSTELLO: So -- so --
BENNETT: And that is kids are texting in class, driving people crazy.
COSTELLO: So what could parents do? I know you have -- there's a new product out there that might help parents. What does it do? What is it?
BENNETT: Well, this product, the Mouse Mail, MouseMail.com, a couple of features. One, it allows the parent to shut off the texting capability. So when the child goes to school, let's say a parent can say no texting from 8:30 to 2:30, believe me, teachers will give parents an apple if they'll do that because it will be great -- a great relief.
Also, it blocks, for the first time it blocks or prevents unwanted texts and the sexting images and so on from ever getting to the child.
COSTELLO: So -- so it picks out certain words that it blocks, is that how it works?
BENNETT: There are certain words, word kids use, the abbreviations that kids use, yes and images and pictures of a certain sort. So you don't -- it's not spyware, you don't spy on the child, but it prevents the child from ever getting things that are inappropriate.
But we stress, there's no substitute for parents. The parent has to sit and talk to the child, have a conversation about what's appropriate and what's not, and then let the technology be a guide, be an aid to that parental conversation.
COSTELLO: I know you say it --
BENNETT: The point is there are things parents can do.
COSTELLO: Right.
But you know just going back to -- to spying on your kids, some kids might think that is a form of spying and they might give their parents all kinds of trouble and they might find other ways around this device.
BENNETT: Yes. And it's hard to keep up with kids, particularly if you are an adult. As Debra was having trouble keeping up with those kids in the feature you did. You know, they are ahead of us, but the technology is smart.
Look, you make a decision in this world to follow your kids into this digital age, it sets the rules and sets some guidelines and to get some help.
Yes, they can try to outsmart you, but we will try to keep up, too. And I think we can keep up. One option does not seem to be realistic for a lot of parents, which is take the cell phone away. That's a lifeline; it's a means of communication, 75 percent of kids have it.
I think it's probably like fighting the fight on TV. Have rules, have parameters, have guidelines, have things you can do or not allowed to do. But we've got to get in the game. We've got in the game and it's very important.
COSTELLO: So --
BENNETT: This is a real threat.
COSTELLO: So if parents are interested, MouseMail.com?
BENNETT: Right. MouseMail.com; we would love for folks to take a look.
COSTELLO: Ok thanks Bill. We appreciate it.
BENNETT: Thanks Carol. Thanks very much. And tell Mr. Like there that we are working on the like thing, too.
ROBERTS: Please do.
COSTELLO: Yes, good luck with that one.
BENNETT: I'm with you, man.
ROBERTS: If we could get that out --
BENNETT: Like I am so with you.
COSTELLO: You know, when you were younger, when both of you were younger, you had, like, strange verbal things going on, too.
ROBERTS: Maybe a couple, but not to the degree --
BENNETT: We had like strange things?
ROBERTS: Yes. Carol proves our point Bill.
I'm with you on that one, Carol. Thanks -- I'm with -- like Bill, I'm with you like on that one. It's good to see you Bill thanks so much.
BENNETT: It's like, like I'm with you.
ROBERTS: All right thanks.
The city of New Orleans is coming back to life post Katrina thanks to massive renovations of the Super Dome, convention center, hotels and restaurants.
Tom Foreman "Building Up America" aboard the CNN Express coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Well, you better not call the kid cliche.
COSTELLO: No, it goes really well with the song.
ROBERTS: There you go.
Exactly five years ago today a tropical depression came together about 200 miles southeast of Nassau in the Bahamas. That system eventually would become hurricane Katrina.
COSTELLO: Five years later, can you believe it -- but five years after the slow rebuild, the Gulf oil spill and the devastating recession, people in New Orleans are still saying ((INAUDIBLE), "Tourists are welcome. The city is open for business." Our Tom Foreman joins us live with today's "Building up America" report. Good morning, Tom.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Good morning, John. I'm back in my French corridor of the town that I used to live in. I just love it here.
Let me tell you something, five years ago you both know, as I know, that many people here really never thought they would see this day. The storm hit, it was so, so, so difficult. And one of the very big concerns was the tourist industry. So many people canceled trips here. So many conventions went away because people thought the city simply could not recover.
I'm telling you this week, they are celebrating the fact that in many ways, particularly the tourism, they really have.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: It may be hard to believe, but New Orleans has 300 more restaurants than it did before Katrina; 1,100 in all. And at the long-standing landmark Commander's Palace, Chef McPhail is not complaining.
(on camera): that's more competition for folks like you, but you don't mind?
CHEF TORY MCPHAIL, COMMANDER'S PALACE RESTAURANT: I embrace it. All these guys who open up these little tiny neighborhood funky spots, I tell you, it is really, really an exciting time to live here in the city.
FOREMAN: Because it brings the whole place back alive?
MCPHAIL: that's right. And the food is fantastic.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Ever since the storm, this city has been aggressively rebuilding its tourism business, which the year before brought a record 10 million visitors and almost $5 billion to town.
For the Super Dome, that has meant a $250 million makeover. $93 million for improvement at the convention center, and $400 million have been put into building up and repairing hotels all over town. And the return on that investment has been enormous.
85,000 people worked in the tourist trade before the hurricane and 70,000 of those jobs have been recovered despite the recession.
(on camera): What do you want tourists to know about New Orleans who haven't been here since the storm?
WILLIE PICKET, NEW ORLEANS TOURISM EMPLOYEE: Keep coming. We love them and we want them to keep coming back. And everything that they like and love about New Orleans is just like it was before Katrina. FOREMAN (voice-over): Beyond the tourist attractions, stubborn troubles remain in many neighborhoods. But Kelly Schulz at the convention and tourism bureau says for this key industry --
KELLY SCHULZ, NEW ORLEANS CONVENTION & VISITORS' BUREAU: everything in New Orleans that was broken by Katrina is being fixed now. But not only back to where it was before, but even better.
FOREMAN (on camera): That's not just a tourism sales pitch?
SCHULZ: No, that's not a tourism sales pitch. That's speaking about the entire city.
FOREMAN (voice-over): There are still challenges, like convincing tourist that is Gulf seafood is safe following the oil spill. But in this town that has already built up from so much, there's a sense that five years after Katrina, the future is much brighter than the past ever was.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: There really are still problems in parts of the city, but the message from New Orleans for all the tourists out there is all the attractions that you used to come to see are back and they are better, John and Carol. So I don't know what you are doing there, you ought to be down here.
The food is great. The music is great.
COSTELLO: You took the bus. We can't leave, you took the bus.
ROBERTS: You left without us. Come on, Tom.
FOREMAN: I'll come back by and pick you up. We'll spend the rest of the summer here.
ROBERTS: I actually will be there at the end of the week if you are still there. We'll grab some crawfish egg soup (ph) together.
FOREMAN: We'll go out and go dancing a little bit.
COSTELLO: Oh, I'd like to see that.
ROBERTS: Don't be giving away our secrets.
Thanks Tom. We'll see you again tomorrow.
Continue the conversation on today's stories, go to our blog at CNN.com/amfix. That will do it for us. See you back here bright and early again tomorrow morning.
COSTELLO: Yes. Let's head to Kyra Phillips. She's in New York for "CNN NEWSROOM" -- hello Kyra.
